A/N: Thank you to all who have reviewed, favorited, and followed this story so far! I'm trying to respond to each of them individually, but obviously I can't do that if you're a guest (so thank you all in general). I just wanted to give two short responses to the some of the Guest reviews: 1) Thanks for reminding me Christian has an apartment in New York! I totally forgot. Let's just pretend that because it was a short business trip, he didn't want to have to bother his housekeeper for such a short amount of time. And 2) I understand one of you was upset that I had Elena call Christian "baby", and thought it was too creepy/ intimate. That's how I meant for it to be read. I absolutely hate Elena's character, and I totally agree with your point. So yes it was creepy and that's how I meant it to be. Sorry if you were uncomfortable!

Chapter 3

"How familiar are you with the other psychologists in the area?" Christian tried to ask casually as he flexed his fingers against the leather couch he was sitting on. Last night he hadn't gotten much sleep, he was too wired from wondering if Anastasia liked the flowers and wine he sent her. Maybe I shouldn't have sent her alcohol…. What if she got herself into trouble? I need her to be mine so I can control these things.

Flynn quirked his eyebrow up, "Why Christian, looking for a referral?" He had been used to Christian threatening to find another doctor every time he made some arbitrary, uncomfortable conclusion about Christian's past, so this was nothing new.

"No I just saw something about Jerry Roach and was curious," Christian shrugged and continued to fidget with the piping on the couch.

"Oh Jerry's an old friend, he works closely with the University and I often give guest lectures there. He has his own private practice in the area," Flynn narrowed his eyes and studied Christian as he tried to seem nonchalant but was failing miserably. "What's this about Christian, you're never curious. Usually you're just broody and quiet."

Christian waved off Flynn's questions. He knew Flynn was onto his game, but frankly he couldn't care less. He needed to know.

"What's he like? Nice? Is he married?"

"You're evasive today. Um he was married, divorced now, no children. He has a young business partner, Ana I think, who he considers to be his daughter."

Christian's concentration narrows as Flynn mentions Anastasia, or Ana apparently.

"You don't think that's weird? That his business partner is so young? Maybe he has less than professional intentions." Flynn's eyes widened and he shook his head gently. He couldn't hide his interest in this development. He could tell Christian really didn't want to know about Jerry, instead he wanted to know about Ana. Flynn let out a contented laugh.

"No not at all, it's fairly uncommon but she's extremely bright. Head of her class at Udub if I remember correctly. She wrote an interesting piece on early attachment theory that I read earlier this year and that I think you'd find enlightening." Amusement flickered in Flynn's voice as he watched Christian's body language intently.

Christian let these revelations wash over him, and he relaxed infinitesimally.

"So are you going to tell me why you're so interested in Ana Steele, or am I gong to have to pry it out of you?"

Christian gave Flynn a hardened look and weighed his options. Flynn knows all about his screwed up past, opening up to him about Anastasia couldn't hurt. Thank god for NDAs and patient confidentiality and all that shit. This is fucking embarrassing.

"I met Anastasia on my business trip to New York. We fought over a bottle of wine, and needless to say she left a … lasting impression. I just found out she lives in Seattle, and I'm trying to figure out a way to reconnect."

"You ran a background check without her consent didn't you?" Flynn scolded him for this blatant invasion of privacy. "Damn it Christian, not only is that illegal but it's a breach of her trust." Christian stared at Flynn impassively, waiting for him to get of his high horse.

"Yes, yes I know. But I want her to be my next submissive and I needed to know more about her."

"Did you meet her at a club? Did she explicitly tell you that she was interested in BDSM? What about her specifically let you know that she'd be interested in this kind of relationship?"

Christian stared at his hands in contemplation until he ran his hands through his hair in agitation.

"Nothing like that . . . She actually yelled at me when we met. There's just something about her that draws me to her. I can't stay away."

"Have you ever thought of trying to pursue a normal relationship with her? Without the domination?"

"Flynn we've talked about this before. I am a dominant. It's who I am, and there's no changing me."

"You know my standpoint on this issue so I'm not even going to repeat myself. You came here, clearly, for advice on how to get involved in Ana's life. And I'm going to tell you right now that she's not going to put up with your sadism bullshit." Flynn had strong opinions about Elena's influence on Christian's childhood and later sexual expectations and practices. None of these opinions were positive.

Christian looked outraged and was about to interrupt his psychologist before Flynn held up a hand to keep him silent. "Ana has training to spot coping devices from miles away, and she's going to catch onto your excuses right away. If you want her in you're life, you're going to have to work for it."

Christian violently yanked down his sweatpants and threw his running shoes to the back of his closet before stepping into a freezing cold shower. After his appointment with Flynn, he was aggravated and needed some kind of outlet. After boxing with Bastille, he found himself running six more miles to clear his clouded mind. Nothing was helping, and he even found himself running past Ana's apartment unconsciously. Her face haunted him no matter what he was doing: those lips, those breasts, her voice. He couldn't escape her.

He tried to convince himself that he should try to get another submissive to distract him, but the thought was almost incomprehensible. Would he be able to have a vanilla relationship? Would Ana even want to have a relationship with him? If this distress is what being in a relationship was like, he wasn't sure if he'd be able to handle it.

"We'll stop here for today, and pick up from this slide on Thursday. Don't forget, if you want to go over last week's test to see what you got wrong, I have office hours starting in five minutes." Ana quickly packed up her things and waited for all of her students to leave the large lecture hall. Her lecture today seemed to drag on for hours rather than the normal hour and fifteen minutes. She had been distracted all day by the thought of the flowers that the Adonis man she met in New York had left for her. She oscillated between thinking about how nice it was and how creepy it was. Then again, all you had to do was google her name and her office would appear. She would even show up on the Udub website. Still a bit stalker-like… who doesn't leave their full name anyway? Criminals, probably.

After settling down in her small office in the psychology building on campus, Ana opened her computer and set out to forget about the rude, albeit gorgeous, man and to catch up on some grading. Before she could even get through one paper, she was interrupted by a timid knock on her door. Students were always scared to approach her for some reason.

"Come in!" She extended to the person behind the door.

"Ana—" The voice that greeted her was not one she was expecting. His greeting made her tense and course with anger.

"Jose. Can't say this is a peasant surprise. Surprise? Yes. Pleasant? Hell no." She crossed her arms as he stepped into her office and shut the door behind him. He had bags with him, like he had just gotten back from New York.

"Please, I couldn't leave our relationship like we did in New York. I came here right away." Jose ran his hand through his short hair, and looked at her pleadingly.

"I'll listen to what you have to say because we were friends long before we ever dated, but don't think for one second that you can guilt me or manipulate me back into a relationship. You were cruel to me, and it's not something I can forgive anytime soon."

Jose nodded, his posture still downtrodden.

"I - I don't know where to start, I feel like there's nothing to say to express how sorry I am." Jose had a hard time keeping his voice steady, every nerve in his body felt like it was buzzing with anxiety. He could barely look at Ana, the girl he thought he loved.

"Save the bullshit Jose, if you were really that sorry you wouldn't have cheated on me in the first place."

"I think… I think I spent so much of our friendship pining over you. And idolizing you. And loving this Fake Ana that I had built up in my mind… I put you on a pedestal, and real life was never going to measure up to my fantasy. And I think I realized that in New York. I'm not trying to make excuses for what I did, because it's inexcusable. I thought I was in love with you now because I thought I was in love with you when we were friends. But I guess that just ruined us. I ruined us."

Ana stared at Jose, feeling numb. She really didn't know what to feel.

"I don't know what to say to you Jose. I'm fucking furious that you wouldn't just talk to me or be honest, especially since we could have parted cordially. Instead you humiliated me, violated my trust, and ruined our friendship." Jose nodded, absorbing every verbal punch that she threw at him.

"Do you think we'll be able to get past this?"

"I just need time Jose."

"Sir, Elena Lincoln is here, she said it was urgent so she's waiting in your office,"

Christian stopped at Andrea's desk to entertain the idea of just taking the rest of the day off. He really wasn't in the mood to deal with Elena after his session with Flynn. If he did make up some excuse to get her to leave, she would probably just show up somewhere else later on. He ran his hand through his already messy hair and steeled himself to face her.

"Elena, what are you doing here?" His voice dripped with disinterest.

"You've been distant lately, I wanted to make sure you're okay. I take care of my own, Christian you know this."

"I'm in control, like always. Now if there's nothing specific you needed I'm going to have to ask you to leave. I'm very busy." Elena's face scrunched in annoyance, she could tell that her grasp on Christian was slipping. Needless to say she needed to rectify the situation as quickly as possible.

"No. You're not in control. You haven't had a submissive since you terminated Susannah's contract a month ago. I'm setting you up with Margaret, she comes highly recommended."

"Elena, I told you no already. This is not up for discussion."

"See, you're so wound up that you're even yelling at me, your closest friend. The only person who truly knows you and doesn't judge you." Christian remained silent, refusing to admit that was true just as Elena was holding up her hand as a sort of surrender. "Fine, I'll leave, but we'll continue this discussion at our lunch next week. Take these next few days to think about your priorities, and once you get your wits back let me know when you want to meet Margaret."

Before Christian could order Elena to stop, she was gone, marching through his office like she owned the place.

There were two things that Christian refused to acknowledge or take responsibility for as he sat in the coffee shop across from Anastasia's office. The first was that he had someone casually observe Anastasia's daily routine. She seemed to be a creature of habit, always getting coffee after her last appointment in the afternoon and sitting at one of the tables with a book or work, depending on the day. The second was that Christian had been so anxious that he was going to miss her stop at the coffee shop today, so he went to the shop an hour early just to make sure he ran into her. It's not creepy, it's due diligence. At least that's what he was telling himself.

By the time 3:00 pm rolled around, he was alternating looking out the window for Anastasia and checking his watch every few seconds. If observed by another person, they would probably think he was unstable. Anastasia was making him feel fucking unstable.

Finally at 3:05, Anastasia appeared looking just as flawless as she did in New York along with a blonde man in jeans and a jacket. His attention was temporarily diverted from this mystery man to Anastasia's toned body. He could tell she wasn't wearing the same lingerie as she was on Saturday, unfortunately. Visions of a begging Ana clad in only a pair of thigh highs and a high heels plagued his mind. Maybe a lace corset would be better… Christian had to stop thinking about her before he entertained the idea of jerking off in the bathroom. Now that would be creepy.

I wonder who's that man she's walking with. Christian noticed how this blonde, attractive man's body seemed to gravitate to Anastasia's movements, as if she was the only person that mattered in that exact moment. This intruder placed his hand on Anastasia's shoulder as they exchanged their goodbyes. He irrationally felt his anger levels rise as the subject of his fantasies was getting groped by a man that was not himself. Finally this boy left, and Ana made her way towards Christian.

She didn't notice him as she walked to the back of the coffee line, and she continued to not notice him even when he got up to stand behind her. As he stood behind her, he got to finally appreciate her body close-up without being interrupted by her yelling. Her long, slender legs were modestly covered by black tights, which disappeared under a tightly fitting black pencil skirt. God that skirt. Christian quickly had to stop himself from staring at her pert ass for too long.

"Anastasia? Fancy meeting you here." Her shoulders quickly tensed in recognition as she turned in her black pumps to face him. Her face was filled with awe and surprise. Christian plastered his trademarked smirk on his face as he studied her reactions. He could tell she was struggling to find something to say.

"Oh… Uh… " Ana stuttered, not knowing what to say. Christian smiled to himself, maybe she did have the makings of being a submissive after all.

"Did you get the flowers? I wasn't sure I had the right address." Yes I was, but you don't have to know that.

"I'm sorry, I'm totally taken by surprise. Yes I did get the flowers. And the wine. Both were amazing, thank you."

"She speaks! I was beginning to think you went mute between our meeting in New York and now. Then again I seem to recall your uncanny ability to yell at perfectly innocent strangers, so I wasn't too worried."

"Innocent?" Ana spluttered. "I wouldn't call you innocent. If I recall correctly you were leering at me."

"Maybe we're both at fault then… how about we start over? New, first impressions."

Christian held out his hand for Ana to take. He wondered if he would feel the same jolt of energy he did in New York, or if that was just a side effect of his rage and arousal.

Ana paused for a second, she was clearly weary of Christian. He seemed to be popping up in her life in the most unexpected ways.

"Hi, I'm Anastasia Steele, but everyone calls me Ana. I'm an avid red wine and coffee drinker, and I enjoy long rants with people I don't know." She firmly grasped Christian's hand and stared into his eyes. Jesus Christ this woman is amazing.

"Hello, I'm Christian Grey. I too am an avid red wine drinker, as well as stealer, and coincidentally I love getting ranted at by people I don't know. It's a pleasure to meet you." With Ana's hand still clasped within his own, he brought her hand to his mouth where he left an open mouthed kiss along the ridges of her knuckles. He let his lips linger and his hot breath expel over her hand. A jolt of pleasure ran down his spine as he witnessed goose bumps emerge on Ana's arm. She was just as aroused as he was. Good to know.

As she was distracted, Christian turned to the barista waiting for their order. "Two medium lattes, one made with soy milk the other made with whole milk. Extra hot. And two of those blueberry muffins over there." Her slid his black American Express card before Ana could even protest. He could tell by the look on her face that she wasn't happy. Various emotions flitted across her face in quick succession: anger, mistrust, confusion.

"Come join me at my table," Christian gestured to the table he had been sitting at just moments ago as the barista handed them their coffee. His statement came out as an order rather than a request.

Ana followed him to his table out of pride. She wasn't sure if she actually wanted to be in his company any longer, but she needed answers and she needed them now.

"How did you know my coffee order?" Christian reveled in the fire that appeared in Ana's eyes once again.

"I didn't, just a lucky guess. Now please, sit." Ana acquiesced after eyeing him wearily. She couldn't tell if he was telling the truth or not.

"You don't trust me, do you Anastasia?"

"No, I can't say I do. In fact, I find you domineering."

"You have no idea."

"I didn't mean it as a compliment."

Christian let out a hearty laugh. He couldn't remember the last time he was this at ease with another person, let alone the last time he legitimately enjoyed their company.

"I'm sorry, we're supposed to be starting over aren't we?" Christian pushed one of the muffins toward Ana for her to eat as he unwrapped his own. She seemed to be momentarily distracted by the movement of Christian's long, dexterous fingers.

Ana played with the sleeve on her coffee cup, not knowing what to say to Christian, this was such a bizarre situation, one that she was no way prepared for.

"So you live in Seattle, what are the chances of that?" She giggled, trying to diffuse the strange, electric tension that was surrounding them. Christian's breath caught in his throat as his dick started to tingle once again. He decidedly loved that noise and the way she seemed so carefree around him. The tension that was in her body earlier seemed to have disappeared with her first sip of coffee. Is it rude to ask her back to my place already?

To say that Christian was thrilled to be sitting across from Ana was an understatement. With every sip of coffee, her scarlet lips molded around the lip of her cup. Her tongue made the occasional appearance and swiped across her bottom lip. I want to bite that lip, Christian thought to himself. He decided then that he needed to touch her, any sort of touch would do. He was like a starving man and she was a five-course meal.

To test how receptive she would be to his advances, he slowly moved his leg so his foot accidentally skimmed her calf. He stared at her wryly as her breath hitched and a flush started to creep up her elegant neck. Please just fuck me, Anastasia.

"Must be fate."

"What?"

"Us both living in the same city, being in New York at the same time, ending up at the same store, going to the same coffee houses. It must be fate," he stared at her intently over his coffee cup. The universe is telling me I need to fuck you, so if you'd please just say yes that would be fantastic. She was biting her lip again, which forced Christian to suppress the urge to press her tight little body to his and kiss her neck.

Throughout the rest of the meal, Christian found excuses to touch her. An accidental brush of the arm, a slight touch of the feet, and a tap on the knee. He couldn't keep his hands to himself.

They talked about everything he could think of: movies, books, music, anything about her life. He found this social connection to be easier than expected, normally he couldn't stand small talk but he found it relaxing with Anastasia. It wasn't even small talk, it seemed like they connected on a less superficial level.

"What did you just say?" Christian was baffled.

"What? It was really rewarding!"

"Working as a sex therapist was rewarding?" Christian could barely breath. Who had she been talking to about sex? Who even does that?

"It was only for a little bit during my masters program. It's rewarding like you wouldn't believe! So pretend you come into my office with, let's say, general anxiety disorder. That's a life long problem that you have to deal with. And you probably won't see beneficial results even after months of therapy and drug prescriptions. But with sex therapy a couple will come in one day, I'll give them… homework to try on their own, and they come back completely happy. Their problems vanish almost immediately. Like I said, rewarding." That's it Anastasia, I need you naked and writhing under me, screaming my name over and over again as soon as possible.

"What made you stop?"

"It was only a temporary job, mostly for the experience. It got old after a while though. You wouldn't believe how many men are still confused about women's anatomy. It started to get old."

"I'll have you know that I'm anything but confused." Christian started to regret saying that until Ana burst out in laughter.

"I can't believe you just said that." Her laughter was contagious, soon he was laughing with her.

"Oh I'm full of surprises, Ana. I'd be more than willing to demonstrate." That just made her roll her eyes and laugh some more. Oh Anastasia, that incredible ass is mine if you roll your eyes at me again. He couldn't wait to see it heat red with his handprints.

"Well this has been an enlightening experience Christian, but I actually have to go. This time I believe I can actually say it was a pleasure to see you." She smiled up at him, and Christian knew he was screwed. Completely and utterly screwed. She had him wrapped around her little finger and wasn't letting go anytime soon. He knew his fantasies would only get worse if he didn't see her again. Soon.

"I'm glad I could acquit myself. Here, let me give you my business card, my personal number is on the back. We should do this again." Ana blushed deeply and smiled back at him.

"We'll see about that Mr. Grey," she said flirtatiously. He knew she wasn't going to make this easy, but if she called him that one more time he couldn't guarantee he would be able to control himself anymore.

"I have a feeling we'll be seeing each other very soon Miss. Steele."